MetaFilter posts tagged with mattel

Dora Grows Up.

lunit — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:18:43 -0800

Dora Grows Up. Nickelodeon and Mattel have introduced a whole new look for beloved cartoon Dora the Explorer. But the new look has people asking, Is Dora too sexy? Nick and Mattel try to smooth things over.

Barbie's midlife crisis

mudpuppie — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:43:39 -0800

While US sales declined steadily in recent years, worldwide Barbie sales have been on the rise. So what better way to celebrate Barbie's 50th birthday and increase worldwide sales than by giving her her very own flagship store in Shanghai [Flash, sound]. And here in the States, Mattel is trying to revive the brand by bringing her into the 21st century -- with Totally Stylin' Tattoo Barbie and, of course, her own Twitter page. But some think that Barbie has no place in modern times. One West Virginia lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban the sale of Barbie dolls "and other similar dolls that promote or influence girls to place an undue importance on physical beauty to the detriment of their intellectual and emotional development." Other questionable Barbie marketing decisions include Pregnant Midge and Teen Talk Barbie.

Cuddle 'n Coo 'n Proselytize

Knappster — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:04:58 -0800

The Mattel toy company insists that their Little Mommy Cuddle 'n Coo dolls do not utter the phrase "Islam is the light." You be the judge.

Scrabble vs. Scrabulous

ericb — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:27:35 -0800

Toymakers Hasbro and Mattel claim that the popular online game Scrabulous (available on Facebook) infringes on the trademark for the board game Scrabble. They have not yet filed suit, but have asked Facebook to desist in its alleged infringement. Scrabulous is one of the top ten plug-ins on the site, developed by brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla in Calcutta, India. "There has been speculation that the challenge to Scrabulous had been launched as Hasbro and Mattel prepare their own online version of Scrabble." Electronic Arts holds the license to the electronic rights to Scrabble. Facebook users are rallying to save the game. Related AskMe thread.

It's Tanner! The Coprophagic pup!

Toekneesan — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:10:28 -0800

Barbie Recalled. Mattel recalled one of their Barbie products today, a sweet little toy to teach kids responsibility called Barbie and Tanner. But watching that commercial closely one must wonder, if those magnets are coming out of Tanner so easily, surely they won't stay in your kid. Perhaps the design flaw had nothing to do with magnets but rather such an ill-conceived product. So, after Tanner poops out the magnet, you do what with it ?

S&M Barbie

nathan_teske — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 11:23:05 -0800

S&M Barbie ... and S&M Barbie

maudlin — Thu, 25 Jul 2002 12:20:20 -0800

"If this were a sci-fi melodrama, it might be called Speech-Zilla meets Trademark Kong. ... The parties are advised to chill." (PDF file) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is at it again. Aqua's hit song "Barbie Girl" is judged not to be a violation of Mattel's trademark, but to be a parody protected by free speech. And all laboured judgely joshing aside, the decision offers a nice summary of trademark law. Get a plain HTML news story from CNN here. (The chorus is running through your brain now, right? And it's going to be there all day, too. *snicker*)

gloege — Mon, 29 Apr 2002 07:15:41 -0800

Barbie creator, Mattel founder Handler dies More than one billion Barbies have been sold in 150 countries and has inspired love from girls everywhere and pure hatred from feminists everywhere. "The impossibly well-endowed doll -- her original figure would be about 39-18-33 if she were human -- has infuriated feminists, inspired artists and intrigued academics around the world. Barbie even was placed in the official "America's Time Capsule" buried in 1976." Can you think of any other toy who has brought about as much ferver as Barbie???

dwivian — Fri, 16 Nov 2001 09:23:55 -0800

Barbie's Hot! Though they claim they have no interest in mass production, I can say right now that I'd buy this Barbie. Woo!

holgate — Sun, 09 Sep 2001 07:15:13 -0800

When Barbie meets ballet...? Mattel are shelling out £85,000 to sponsor the ENO's traditional Christmas run of the Nutcracker, which coincidentally starts just as Barbie in the Nutcracker hits the cinemas. A good way to "interest young girls in the ballet", or a head-on crash between two questionable influences on their body image? (more inside...)

tiaka — Thu, 15 Mar 2001 06:08:50 -0800

Ken, of Barbie and Ken has turned 40. To mark the occasion, Mattel is releasing a hot, young, 20 year old secretary, that Ken is having an affair with, and a Porsche 911. (to complete the whole midlife crisis thing you see.)

Steven Den Beste — Sat, 24 Feb 2001 16:02:27 -0800

A triumph for art and free speech over commercialism. Or something like that. A photographer can't be prevented (by Mattel) from shooting pornographically posed Barbie dolls and selling the pictures as post cards. I wonder what they looked like. Hey, hot mama! (Courtesy of Firing Squad)

Nyarlathotep — Thu, 24 Aug 2000 09:01:01 -0800

Buy your kid a new doll you cheap bastards! - Apparently barbie dolls and other plastic toys made in the 1950's have recently been found to secrete a sticky chemical film that could cause developmental problems in children.

mathowie — Wed, 02 Aug 2000 17:05:38 -0800

This is just sick and wrong. Convention Barbie? Do you really want to support a party with lame merchandising tie-ins like this? Sidenote: does this make Bush pro-Mattel and anti-Matt L?

grumblebee — Sat, 17 Jun 2000 12:10:54 -0800

The original programmer of the Broderbund/Mattel "spyware" explains that it's actually NOT spyware. This topic was originally discussed on MeFi in this thread.

baylink — Thu, 15 Jun 2000 14:55:45 -0800

What in the hell is it going to take? Broderbund/Mattel puts spyware in kids reading programs... [/.]

deckard — Fri, 26 May 2000 21:48:06 -0800

Another victim falls to the tyranny of Mattel. What's really strange about this is that, to my knowledge, Barbie is a name. If someone names their kid Barbie, will they too receive a C&D from Mattel? Hmm...

Well, if you want to read the C&D its here.

luke — Thu, 11 May 2000 09:16:22 -0800

The good guys can win, but it's not cheap. If Clue.com can beat Hasbro, surely Mattl has a case against Mattel. As if we didn't already know that.

mathowie — Mon, 08 May 2000 16:50:25 -0800

Unbelievable news nugget of the day: my friend Matt Lavallee has been slapped with a cease-and-desist order from the Mattel Toy Corporation for his personal domain, mattl.com. I guess no one with a name that sounds like a misspelled company is allowed to buy domains from now on? Something needs to be done, corporations do not own the web.

greyscale — Tue, 28 Mar 2000 20:12:54 -0800

Cyber Patrol hacker sells out for one dollar < I made my political point and just don't want further annoyance... ...Mattel initiated legal action in e-mail subpoenas in mid-March and Skala and Jansson removed cphack from their sites, but not before urging computer activists to copy and distribute it.... ...Nevertheless, some mirror site operators think open source software protections make the issue moot. The court cannot impose an Internet ban because cphack was released under the GNU General Public License... > perhaps you've seen this--the final decision will be interesting with repect to free speech and the GNU GPL. something to watch anyhow.